Weather and Traffic

Palm Beach area rainfall tops 1 inch; drier weekend ahead

Thursday morning’s Gulf of Mexico satellite shows plenty of dry air behind the rain over the Florida peninsula. (Credit: NOAA)

Parts of coastal Palm Beach County were hit with more than an inch of rain this morning as a low pressure system from the Gulf of Mexico swept over the peninsula. The track of the system was a little farther south than computer models had predicted, forecasters said, and thunderstorms spread into Palm Beach and Broward counties shortly after dawn.

Raindar estimates from the South Florida Water Management District showed that more than 2 inches of rain had fallen near Palm Beach and hefty rains of an inch or more drenched areas to the west.

Officially, though, 0.55 of an inch had fallen at Palm Beach International Airport through 10 a.m.and 0.63 of an inch was reported at a weather station in Palm Beach. A station just west of Lake Mangonia in West Palm Beach recorded 1.05 inches.

The heftiest unofficial total in South Florida was at a station northeast of Naples, where 2.25 inches fell. CoCoRaHS data showed heaviest amounts in Southwest Florida. There was a report in Sarasota of 2.62 inches.

Rain remains in the forecast throughout the day so totals may increase. The Feb. 5 record for precipitation in West Palm Beach, where records go back to 1889, is 1.60 inches in 1960.

Cool and breezy weather is in the forecast through next Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Miami. Friday’s forecast high in Palm Beach is only 68 with winds gusting to near 30 mph. the weekend should be sunny and dry, forecasters said, with highs in the low-70s, but then another cold front arrives on Monday and drives low temperatures into the 50s. Highs are expected to remain in the upper 60s.

Normal highs and lows are 76 and 58, edging up to 59 on Monday.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center continues to indicate below-normal temperatures for all of Florida through at least Feb. 18, and below normal precipitation for Florida and most of the U.S. Southeast.

AccuWeather released its spring forecast today predicting a warm and early spring for much of the U.S. — including the Upper Midwest and Northeast — east of the Mississippi. Florida is forecast to be stormier than usual.